January 15, 2010 (Vol. 30, No. 2)
URL:
http://www.urogene.org/methprimer/index.html
Rating:
Strong Points: Nice resources in addition to the primer tool itself
Weak Points: Bland web design, some of the text doesn’t display correctly
Summary:
Well, it’s not the prettiest website, but who ever said that primer websites had to be pretty, right? MethPrimer is a straightforward program for designing bisulfite-conversion-based methylation PCR primers, either for methylation-specific PCR (MSP) or bisulfite-sequencing PCR (BSP)/bisulfite-restriction PCR. The primer design program is pretty standard—paste a DNA sequence, choose parameters, and (ta-da!) you have primers. However, the other features of this site are what really make it worthwhile to visit. There are a number of links to protocols and other online resources (although, annoyingly, some of the links don’t take you to the specific page you need), as well as a methylation method forum. Whether you wish to lend your expertise to the H3 hyper-methylation question, or you’re wondering how to cleanup your amplicons, the forum is the place to go.
